Congress leaders Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi protest outside PM’s residence over student crackdown. (Credits: X/ @RahulGandhi)
Stepping up the attack on the Centre over Delhi Police’s crackdown on the Parliament march organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on Monday, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has started a sit-in protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence.
Gandhi, accompanied by Wayanad MP and sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other Congress leaders, reached the Prime Minister’s address at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg this afternoon. The Congress leaders then sat on the ground and started raising slogans, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The government has now deputed Union Minister Jitendra Singh to tackle the situation. He has reached the protest site and is seen speaking to Gandhi. More Congress leaders and workers, it is learnt, are on their way to join the protest.
“We have marched to PM Modi’s house to demand answers from him for the brutalities against young students yesterday,” Gandhi said in a post on X, adding, “PM and HM must resign for destroying the future of India’s youth.” Police authorities are now urging the Congress leaders to end the sit-in protest outside the Prime Minister’s residence, a high-security zone.
A video shared by the Congress on X showed Gandhi distributing zip ties among his party colleagues. The protesting leaders are seen tying wrists together so that they cannot be detained. Police are now putting barricades on the road to the Prime Minister’s residence to stop other protesters from reaching the demonstration. Congress MP Syed Naseer Hussain told The Indian Express, “Our demand is simple. We want the PM’s resignation and accountability.”
Rahul Gandhi distributes zip ties among Congress leaders outside PM’s residence on Tuesday.
The Congress protest outside the Prime Minister’s residence came hours after the Gandhi siblings visited the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi to meet those injured in the police action during the CJP protest on Monday. The CJP supporters were marching to Parliament to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over question paper leaks ahead of competitive exams.
A Congress MP told The Indian Express that in order to not alert police, the party leadership didn’t tell its MPs in advance about a protest outside the Prime Minister’s residence. “We were all called to (Congress president Mallikarjun) Kharge Ji’s residence to wish him on his birthday. There, we were told that there is a protest outside the PM’s residence and that we all have to go there. It was sudden for us too,” said the MP. Kerala Chief Minister VD Satheesan, who is visiting Delhi, was in Kerala House when he came to know about the protest. He joined his party colleagues soon after. Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar was also seen.
Addressing the media in Parliament earlier, Gandhi slammed the Centre for the police action against protesters, which left scores injured. “The point is that this is no way to treat young people of this country. They don’t have any opportunities. All the doors are closed. Only one door is open – competitive exams. And that door is also destroyed. These students are not just complaining about the education system; they are complaining about their future,” he said.
Gandhi said the protests are not just about education. “This is bigger than education. This is young people saying we have no future in India. There is nothing wrong with this. And instead of saying, okay, we are going to improve the education system, we will work to fix the testing system. I don’t know what the Prime Minister is doing. That is the story,” he said. He also said that while Pradhan must resign, the government’s accountability does not end there. “He should resign. But Dharmendra Pradhan hasn’t beaten up the students; the Home Minister has, and he should resign, and the Home Minister reports to the PM, who should also resign.”